This invention generally relates to an illuminated gauge for an instrument cluster. More particularly, this invention relates to an illuminated gauge utilizing a liquid crystal display (LCD) that is selectively reconfigurable to display multiple types of vehicle information.
Vehicles include instrument panels with illuminated gauges and pointers to indicate vehicle information such as speed, fuel economy, oil pressure, voltage, etc. An illuminated gauge is comprised of an LCD that is configured to display vehicle information, a pointer that is driven by a motor to indicate the appropriate vehicle information, a light source and light housing that cooperate to illuminate the pointer, and a polarizer that is used to control light transmission.
In order for a vehicle occupant to view the pointer on the illuminated gauge, the LCD must be cut to provide openings through which the pointer can be viewed. This cutting process is complicated and very expensive.
Further, in a traditional LCD configuration, each illuminated gauge typically includes one type of vehicle information. For example, a speedometer will display a range of speeds for one type of unit of measure, such as miles-per-hour (MPH). To display this information in another type of unit of measure, e.g. kilometers-per-hour (KPH), an additional gauge must be used, or the gauge must be replaced with another gauge that displays the appropriate units. This proliferates components and increases overall cost for an instrument cluster.
Accordingly, it is desirable provide a gauge configuration that is more cost effective in addition to overcoming the other above-mentioned difficulties in the prior art.